Published 4:00 am, Tuesday, April 13, 1999

"I struggle not to get smug," she said. "I love to put my kids on and say "Oh, did the gas prices go up? I'll be darned. When did that happen?' It's all I can do not to thumb my nose when I go by a gas station."

William Dahlgren can't remember the last time he pulled his Honda into a filling station. "I think I got some air about three months ago," he said.

Egghert, a San Francisco nurse, and Dahlgren, a self-employed businessman, are among the dozens of Bay Area residents who drive automobiles powered by massive batteries.

As gas prices in the Bay Area edge toward the $2-a-gallon mark, the attraction of electrically powered vehicles - EVs to those who know and love them - is becoming clear to many embittered motorists.

(Gas costs climbed 43.11 cents per gallon in the past three weeks, bringing the average San Francisco price to $1.71 a gallon, the highest in the nation. That includes Hawaii. Think about it.)

Paula Kohenek, who markets the General Motors EV-1 through Saturn dealerships, said the up-tick in consumer interest had been evident. "In the last two weeks I've been quite busy and getting a lot more calls," she said. Many of those inquiring about GM's battery-driven two-seater have mentioned gas prices as a motive for their sudden interest, Kohenek added.

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However, experts say, EVs are still in the experimental stage and won't save money over gas-powered cars, even at today's fuel prices.

"The big picture is that the cost of new electric vehicles will probably never be competitive with new gasoline cars for the simple reason that batteries are inherently expensive, heavy and bulky," said Daniel Sperling, a Berkeley resident who directs the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC-Davis. The Institute is putting final touches on a study of electric vehicle operating costs for the California Air Resources Board.

Sperling said EVs would falter in the marketplace until the battery system was replaced with fuel cell technology, which can convert a variety of fuels into electrical energy without combustion and with no toxic emissions.

West, design manager for a San Jose technology firm, acquired his EV-1 for less than the $400-a-month lease most customers pay. (The cost is actually higher, but it's reduced by California tax incentives.)

"I got a showroom model, so I get another $50 knocked off," he said. With tax, he pays $373 each month.

"I have a complete bumper-to-bumper warranty for the three years of the lease," West said. "I don't buy tires, I don't buy brakes. I figure that's worth about $100 a month."

Last month, he said, "I put about $14 worth of electricity on the vehicle and drove about 900 miles. It would have cost me $50 to $60 for my other vehicle, a 10-year-old Volvo wagon. With the price of gas going up, that savings, of course, gets bigger."

West figures his costs equate to a $225-a-month payment for a gasoline powered car, plus fuel and maintenance.

Dahlgren pays $485 for his four-seater Honda EV, which has a similar all-inclusive warranty. He doesn't care about the cost. "I'm one of those people who just wanted one," he said. Dahlgren had earlier owned a converted Renault electric car, and during the early 1970s gas crunch he built his own electric motorcycle.

There's a critical difference between gas and electrically powered automobiles, and that is range. "I get between 45 and 55 miles on a charge," West said.

Dahlgren, who lives on the southern cusp of San Francisco, said he could expect about 85 miles from one charge on his Honda EV. Once, he drove the car to Martinez and back, arriving home with 15 miles left before he would have experienced "the most embarrassing thing that can happen" to an electric vehicle driver. That would be running out of juice.

Most electric car owners use their vehicles to commute to work and for short shopping trips, said Kohenek. And most own gasoline powered cars as well, for longer drives. She only knows of one person whose sole vehicle is powered by batteries.

When fuel cells come along, that problem will disappear, said Sperling. "The auto industry is looking to (fuel cell technology) as the Holy Grail to solve all their problems," he said. "You get all the advantage of battery electric vehicles without the range problems."

Fuel cell cars by 2005

The wait won't be long. He said major American car manufacturers had vowed that "they're each going to have 100,000 fuel cell vehicles on the road by 2005."

Meanwhile, Sperling said, there are reasons to enjoy an electric car.

"Many people just love home recharging," he said. "In survey after survey we've done, we've found that a large proportion of people just hate going to gas stations."

Egghert says amen to that.

"You don't waste any time in line for gas," she said.

"You don't have fluids to change. You don't have oils to change. I don't clean oil off my driveway any more."

Sperling said the relative zippiness of electric cars was another attraction.

"If you've got some turkey in front of you who keeps slowing down, or if you want to get out of a dangerous situation, you do it very quickly," said Egghert. "You just fly around them and keep going."

Sperling said electric drive vehicles had high torque, meaning "you get 100 percent of the power as soon as you touch the peddle. The result is that you have smooth, powerful acceleration with an EV, and virtually everyone who test drives them finds it to be a superior experience to gasoline engines."

However, he added, that's only true at relatively low speeds.

Another payoff, some owners admit, is the attention that electric vehicles draw from other drivers.

Dahlgren said his car attracted lots of waves and smiles when he first purchased it 14 months ago. Then, the phenomenon faded, perhaps because the novelty of electric cars had worn off.